


this isn't the job of a ninja huh!!

by idaate



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Bike Accident, Car Accidents, Hurt/Comfort, I'm so sorry, Other, THIS IS RLY ANGSTY AND EDGY IM SORRY, that sweet depression, this is kinda old
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-27 15:17:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7623772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idaate/pseuds/idaate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shinobu skids on the grass and kneels down next to Takamine, heart thumping as he grabs the boy and shakes his shoulders and demands that he’s okay, ignoring the blood that’s started staining the snow around them until his hands are soaked in it too.</p><p>And then suddenly everything is redredred and Midori is gonegonegone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	this isn't the job of a ninja huh!!

**Author's Note:**

> i guess im gonna be more active here rip
> 
> this is kinda old and i apologize
> 
> i wish i could come up with titles

And suddenly in a blur of lights that flash red and yellow and the screeching of tires that hurt Shinobu’s ears like nails scratching on a chalkboard, he’s gone.

Midori’s gone, and he simply can’t comprehend that the brown headed scowling face is gone, gone, gone.

Or maybe it’s just that he can’t accept it. After all, the concept of death and dying (though the answer changes depending on who you’re asking, Shinobu supposes) isn’t exactly rocket science.

At least, that’s what he tells himself.

They’re not even old enough to drive yet - Shinobu’s fifteen, and Midori is (was) as well - so for once, they’re riding around on their bicycles together. Shinobu’s done it countless times, but Midori’s just warming up to the idea of riding on them. He’s only started two or three weeks ago.

Winter was in the full swing of things, Shinobu remembers that. Wrapped up in layers of scarves and earmuffs protecting a painstakingly small portion of his face, the cold wind and light drizzle of snow had smarted his cheeks. But despite that he had laughed, catching snowflakes in his mouth and swerving dangerously left and right on the sides of the road, earning a harsh scolding from Midori because ‘it was winter, who knows what might happen to him’.

Shinobu forgets where they were going - maybe it was to get some ramen after practice? Something like that, but the details aren’t too important at this point - but it’s everything afterward that matters.

Suddenly, veering seemingly out of nowhere, the car had appeared, slipping on black ice and skidding towards the side of the road. 

And just like that, Midori goes out like a light. Fwoosh.

It all happens in under three seconds, and Shinobu can barely comprehend it, just stopping his bike and staring at Takamine’s body. It’s a blur of things going from  _ ‘oh dear, he’s fallen down.’  _ to  _ ‘oh my God he’s not moving he’s not moving he’s not-’  _ and he’s sprinting towards him, bike hastily thrown to the side and forgotten.

The driver of the car has gotten out, a middle aged man with a bit of stubble and glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, and he’s apologizing frantically though it’s obvious that he’s more concerned about being sued over this and less concerned of the well being of the boy laying on the ground.

Shinobu skids on the grass and kneels down next to Takamine, heart thumping as he grabs the boy and shakes his shoulders and  _ demands  _ that he’s okay, ignoring the blood that’s started staining the snow around them until his hands are soaked in it too.

And then suddenly everything is  _ redredred  _ and Midori is  _ gonegonegone. _   
  


 

He tells Chiaki first, and he honestly doesn’t know why it’s him and not one of Midori’s relatives. Maybe it’s because Chiaki has practically become the father of both Shinobu and Midori, in a way? After all, he was the one who force-started their relationship.

The red hero picks up the phone with a too-cheery  _ “Hello?”  _ before Shinobu cuts straight to the chase.

“P-pardon Shinobu for calling at such an hour, but…” Shinobu swallows nervously. “Midori-kun is...deceased.”

It’s the first time he’s vocalized it, and somehow, that makes the weight of everything else hit a little harder.

There’s a stretch of silence from the other end, and then an awkward laugh and  _ “Excuse me? What did you say?”  _ and Shinobu can feel his heart  _ breaking  _ and he can  _ visualize the face Chiaki’s making, the way his smile breaks just a little, wavers-- _

“Midori’s dead.” Shinobu repeats, voice quavering and he swallows, trying to stop it from breaking completely. “He’s dead. He got hit by a car.”

Another pause, and then,  _ “You and Takamine...aren’t pulling some prank on me? This isn’t some sort of sick joke?” _

“Do I sound like I’m joking to you?” Shinobu answers bitterly, uncharacteristically, and anger rushing through his veins, he slams his thumb down on the ‘end call’ button.

He decides to simply alert Tetora and Kanata not through direct calls, but through texts. He wouldn’t have to say Midori’s fate out loud that way. 

  
  


Shinobu can’t sleep for nights, though that’s to be anticipated, he supposes.

Or at least, that’s what the others say.  _ “You saw Midori die right before your eyes,” _ they murmur sadly.  _ “it’s not going to be something that you can shake off easily. Give it some time.” _

But he’s given it a week, shouldn’t that be enough?

Apparently not, because he’s still nagged by nightmares of Midori lying too still on the ground and of his blood dripping down and staining Sengoku’s hands and-

He decides not to sleep at all. 

 

_ It should have been me.  _ After being told - admittedly out of the haze of anger and grief - by Midori’s mother when she got the news, the thought began weighing on his mind, eating away and nagging at every one of his thoughts until it practically consumed him. After all, he easily could’ve believed it too. It didn’t make much sense that he would survive while Midori didn’t, after all. It had been a pure fluke that he had lived.

Such a thought quickly consumed his whole life, from anything as simple as seeing a mascot character walk by (ah, he would’ve loved a sight such as that, wouldn’t he?) or going to practice (he said he hated these but...did he really…?).

And as it is with such thoughts, it quickly escalated from ‘should have been me’ to ‘it was me’ after he had contemplated it for hours, staring up at the non-existent patterns on his wall. 

Sengoku had killed Takamine, plain and simple. It was his fault, through and through, that the green hero had been killed.

He was a  _ ninja,  _ a person who  _ protected others!  _ Who  _ saved lives!  _ So how was it, then, that when someone’s life really needed to be saved, he failed. 

Shinobu feels tears collect in the lids of his eyes, his frogs staring at him through the darkness of the room. 

He clutches his pillow to his chest and chews on the corner of the fabric. Now that he comes to terms with that fact, though, it seems to make things much easier to deal with. That’s good.

For the first time in weeks, his night is a little less sleepless than it had been beforehand.

**Author's Note:**

> i love enstars im sorry i wish it was more active


End file.
